Articles Tagged withWoodbridge Wealth

Scott L. Silver, managing partner of the Silver Law Group, was interviewed by South Florida’s Local 10 ABC news station concerning the Woodbridge Group of Companies investment fraud. Scott Silver is one of the nation’s leading experts on Ponzi schemes and has represented victims in many of the country’s largest investment frauds, including Madoff, Rothstein and Stanford.

Woodbridge and its affiliated companies have been heavily-featured in the news since the SEC brought fraud charges against the Woodbridge companies in December 2017. Since the SEC filings, news outlets have placed greater scrutiny on the individual “brokers” who sold the investments.

Silver has been representing investors who have been victims of investment fraud, Ponzi schemes and the like for over 20 years. Due to his experience, Channel 10 investigative reporter Bob Norman interviewed Scott concerning the Woodbridge fraud and the selling dealers.

Silver Law Group is investigating claims related to Barry Kornfeld and First Financial Tax Group for the sale of investment products issued by the Woodbridge Group of Companies as safe alternatives for income seeking retirees.

Barry Kornfeld (“Kornfeld”) is the owner of First Financial Tax Group in Boca Raton, FL and teaches Baby Boomer Retirement Courses at Florida Atlantic University. Kornfeld is alleged to have sold short-term mortgage notes issued by the Woodbridge Group of Companies (“Woodbridge”) to retirees seeking safe, conservative, income alternatives. Barry Kornfeld was barred in July 2010 by both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) from acting as a broker or investment adviser or otherwise associating with firms that sell securities or provide investment advice to the public.

Woodbridge is currently the subject of a SEC probe for the possible fraudulent sale of securities to investors. Woodbridge filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today citing costs of expansion, litigation, and a government fraud investigation as the reason. According to Woodbridge Wealth’s website, Woodbridge offers First Position Commercial Mortgages, Secondary Market Annuities and a Commercial Bridge Loan Fund. Woodbridge has reportedly raised approximately 1 billion dollars from investors around the country through agents such as Barry Kornfeld and First Financial Tax Group.

Sherman Oaks, California-based Woodbridge Group of Companies (“Woodbridge Group”) filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy amidst a Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) investigation. Woodbridge Group cited costs of expansion, litigation and a government fraud investigation as some of the reasons for filing for bankruptcy protection.

According to court papers, Woodbridge Group raised $226 million from over 1,500 investors and owes approximately $750 million to an estimated 8,998 noteholders. In a Woodbridge Group press release, the company stated that the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding will be a debt recapitalization.

Woodbridge Group’s bankruptcy filing comes in light of what appears to be a rather contentious SEC investigation that has been going on for over a year. The SEC investigation concerns potential fraudulent sales of securities, according to court documents. The SEC has not brought any formal charges against Woodbridge Group yet.

The SEC has an important purpose within the United States financial markets and that purpose is to regulate a fair and transparent economy. The SEC regularly looks into allegations of fraud within financial institutions to ensure that the interests of investors are protected. When the SEC decides to launch an investigation, the process is exhaustive; however, it is necessary to uncover whether that particular financial entity has in fact committed fraud. Recently, the SEC has decided to investigated Woodbridge Wealth and their affiliate group of companies.

As a prospective investor, it is important that you are regularly researching the nature of both the transactions and investment firms that you are investing with. The reason for this is that there are many opportunities to lose a substantial amount of investment capital by investing with firms that are not complying with SEC regulations within the United States.

This is precisely why it is best to be well-informed about each and every investment trade that you are putting your capital towards. This way, you can avoid being subject to investment fraud. That said, it is important to be aware of which firms are undergoing investigations by the SEC.

There are many different investment opportunities out there on the market regarding securities both registered and unregistered. Where this market gets quite complex is when investors are not provided with the proper information to make a sound decision on their investment.

Due to the complexity of these transactions, there is an opportunity for an investment firm to take advantage of investors that do not have a strong awareness of the financial sector and, as a result, engineer hidden clauses with opportunities to make additional profits through excessive fee charging.

Recently, there has been a great deal of intrigue regarding Woodbridge Wealth and their affiliated limited liability companies in terms of their potential involvement in allegations of fraud, trading of unregistered securities, and permission of transactions with unlicensed brokers while simultaneously raising more than $1 billion in capital from investors.

Due to these suspicions and the substantial amount of capital involved, the SEC has decided to formally investigate Woodbridge Wealth and their affiliates. If you have invested with Woodbridge Wealth or one of its affiliates, it is important that you carefully review the details of your investment and stay informed regarding their pending investigation.

SEC regulations are intended to provide investors with a framework of full disclosure of risks and anti-fraud provisions. That said, there are still investment schemes that are not following the protective measures as set out by the SEC.

For this reason, it is important to carefully consider what company you will be investing with and verify the reputation of that company before moving forward with signing the contracts. From time to time there are companies that the SEC scrutinizes to ensure that they are in fact complying with its regulations regarding the trading of securities.

Woodbridge Wealth is currently one of those companies in which the SEC is investigating.

Within the United States there has been a severe crack down on the trading of securities since the sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008. The reason for this is that there was far too little regulation on how securities are traded and whether investors were receiving full disclosure on the nature and risks of what they were investing in.

In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has instituted reforms in cooperation with many government agencies with the objectives of making a unified and fair market within the United States that protects American consumers.

While this market has improved substantially since 2008, there are still instances where companies are investigated by the SEC in order to ascertain whether they are in fact complying with SEC regulations.

Woodbridge Wealth promotes itself as a division of Woodbridge Group of Companies and advertises as a company with a focus on “wealth creation” claiming “Woodbridge Wealth is among the most innovative financial companies in the U.S. From its base in Sherman Oaks, California, it helps countless clients realize strong returns with lower-risk products without the burden of long-term commitments.”

The promise of lower-risk investments with strong returns has helped Woodbridge Wealth and its related companies raise over $1 billion from investors nationwide. However, recent SEC filings and other state action have raised concerns that Woodbridge Wealth may have violated the federal securities laws by selling unregistered securities or violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.